First Impressions - TF Est. 1968 Tourbillion Openside

Sep 22, 2015 by Felix Jen

TF Est. 1968 is a very under-the-radar Swiss brand that specializes in luxury goods, such as cufflink sets, timepieces, and pens. The brand was created in 1968 (obvious from it’s name) and creates products inspired by the world of watchmaking and mechanical watches.

One of TF Est. 1968’s rollerball pens is their Tourbillion Openside which features a real mechanical watch tourbillion suspended in a see-through chamber. The top of the pen is wrapped with a crocodile stamped black leather.

The Tourbillion Openside comes in a leatherette box with the TF Est. 1968 logo embezzled on. The box feels extremely soft and very hefty.

The top of the pen is fully wrapped in crocodile pattern black leather. The leather is very soft and quite smooth. The black clip is a nice compliment to the leather and fits in very well.

Here is the pen living in its small compartment. The pen is held by a thin metal (?) filament that stretches as you lift the pen. To take the pen out of the box, you need to lift the tray out, lift the clip and slide the pen out.

The actual mechanical watch tourbillion on the pen’s finial is a very unique touch. The tourbillion will move from the motions of your hand and the balance wheel does actually spin. There are also some precious gemstones (rubies) in the tourbillion like a real mechanical watch.

I find this pen to be a great fit in the hand, especially with the taper at the end of the barrel. The balance is near the center, leaning a little bit back. The pen sits very nicely in the crotch of your hand.

The refill that’s included with the pen is extremely smooth and I did not notice any skipping with it. Even after a long time unscrewed, the pen starts right up without hesitation. I did not look to see what type of refill this pen takes, but a Parker refill should be a safe bet.

All in all, I like this pen a lot and it’s a very unique piece, especially with the tourbillion movement on top. The pen can be found at a few online and physical retails and it retails for $800.